Funding – Dutch Uncles

Does Bootstrapping Give You Greater Sense of Ownership

Vaishali Das — Thu, 29 Jul 2021 12:35:09 +0000

What is bootstrapping?

Building a company from scratch with personal savings, earnings from the first sales and mere luck, without any external help or funding is known as Bootstrapping. It literally means ‘to pull oneself up by one’s own bootstraps’. Self-financing a business by using only existing resources needs a lot of support and patience. The concept is purely based on the fact that one’s time and money will drive business expansion and thus it can be both satisfying and stressful at the same time.

Why can bootstrapping be a successful model?

Bootstrapping a nascent company can be a romanticised idea. It can also work if you are enthusiastic and able to put in the hustle. It might be fruitful for those who can pull this off. There are various reasons why Bootstrapping can be a successful business model:

Full Ownership:

Bootstrapping gives an entrepreneur 100% ownership of their business. It is one of the best funding options that doesn’t dilute the ownership. When a business is bootstrapped, the founders are given the sole ownership rights and thus have the benefit of gaining 100% profit.

Having Full Directional Control:

As soon as external funding is involved, it brings in responsibility to satisfy other people’s interest. This sometimes constrains the entrepreneur’s vision. In the bootstrapping model, there’s no third party involvement which gives the entrepreneurs complete control over the steering wheels to take the company in their desired direction. This control allows the entrepreneur to establish a strong foundation and have sustainable growth.

Sense of Accomplishment:

If you wish to keep your company as a part of your heirloom and make it more of a multigenerational business, then bootstrapping is the right option for your business. It will give you that satisfaction of creating and owning something valuable.

Limited Debts:

By bootstrapping, it can slowly bring in revenue and can establish a safety net that will fund future investments in the business. As they’re never reliant on outside funding, therefore there’s no pressure of paying off the debts or taking loans for that matter if things don’t work out as planned.

‘‘

Bootstrapping has a lot of benefits and is an excellent funding approach to keep ownership in-house and limit the external debts.

5 companies who have become successful by bootstrapping

Bootstrapping is a part of many successful businesses’ stories. Around 80% of the small businesses and startups are self-funded. Bootstrapped startups are an ultimate source of inspiration, some of them are:

Zerodha: India’s largest stockbroking app and one of the finest bootstrapped companies to join the unicorn club.
Zoho: The cloud business giant bootstrapped and managed to generate revenues worth $10 million by 2000.
Kaleyra: A cloud-based multi-channel communication platform helping enterprise operators, worldwide, to power their business communication. Having a client base including big names like Amazon, Ola, Flipkart, AirAsia, Zomato, it has crossed a revenue of Rs. 693.6 crore.
Wingify: A platform known to develop world’s best tools for website optimization. Having revenues in millions the startup bagged some blue chip clients namely Microsoft and Walt Disney and Co.
Grab-on: A trusted e-commerce platform offering coupons, gift cards, promo code and vouchers. The company proved its worth by gaining profits within 15 months of its inception.

How half of India’s software company is bootstrapped

Nearly half the software product companies in India today are bootstrapped. The reason behind this could be the mindset that bootstrapping allows founders to follow their vision. Staying away from equity funding is like staying away from debt and many startups are preferring this nowadays. It can be mentioned that bootstrapping is a necessity as well as personal choice for entrepreneurs.

Is it good or bad for company’s growth – Insights for startups

The bottom line is that every business is unique and follows a different path. Bootstrapping may work for one company but for another it might be impossible.

Looking into the startup ecosystem in today’s time, it can be said that bootstrapping still is an attractive option for startup entrepreneurs. It has a lot of benefits and is an excellent funding approach to keep ownership in-house and limit the external debts. But before taking a final call one should always weigh the pros and cons and do a thorough research on the market condition for their particular sector.

The post Does Bootstrapping Give You Greater Sense of Ownership appeared first on Dutch Uncles.

Why Investors Invest in a Loss-making Company?

Abhilash Bapanasha — Thu, 29 Jul 2021 06:15:09 +0000

Profits are no doubt vital to the growth of any company, but some of the biggest names in business are yet to make money. This being the backdrop, does profit still matter? Well, it does, then why do investors invest in a loss-making company? Chinmay Ananda has elucidated on this question in MentorED, our weekly live 30-minute workshop where industry veterans share their knowledge and experience and discuss topics that are apt and relevant to the start-up and small business fraternity.

Chinmay Ananda is a Financial Educator, Business Storyteller, Speaker, Author and Investor. He has trained and consulted over 950 business owners in Australia, India, China and Indonesia, and teaches in top business schools like the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology (RMIT), Torrens University, University of New England and Insight Academy of Entrepreneurship in Australia. Ananda also conducts monthly webinars for indianstartups.com that has 100,000+ members. He also mentors start-ups and is active in the Venture Capital ecosystem. In 2016, he was awarded the prestigious Kerrie Nairn Scholarship for his public speaking skills.

Playing the high-risk game

Chinmay Ananda initiated the workshop by asking a question to the audience, “Why do you think investors invest?” Although many may opine different views altogether, it is worthwhile to have a measurable answer. Thereafter from his illustrious story of purchasing his motorcycle which later proved to change his own mindset in investment, he answered, “Investors invest if you make them believe that you can help them make more money with their money than they would have done with their own money.”

‘‘

Investors invest if you make them believe that you can help them make more money with their money than they would have done with their own money.

For any investor, there are multiple avenues to invest in order to get a profit in return. Most frequently, when someone invests, they look for a future prospect even more than considering the present status of the company or sector. They look at startups as a high-risk game. “If at all I have got ten crores to invest, I would probably choose ten startups and invest one crore in each one of them. They know for sure five to six of them might fail miserably which means they may not even get back the money that they have invested. One or two might give them one and a half to two times a return and there might be another that might give two to three times but there might be that one startup that might end up becoming a unicorn which might give them even a hundred times the return.”

Investors are also interested to make sure that the startup eventually passes into the subsequent stages of funding and thereby expanding into similar markets. “They also want to prepare to make sure that they can take you to the next round of funding series B where the big players like the venture capitalists also known as vulture capitalists emerge because they do not just come after the share in the company they also come after the management. So, this is one of the main reasons why investors invest even if a startup is not making profit because they want to make sure that startup is valuable for the next investor who would like to invest.”

Audience Asks

Newbie investors can invest in a loss making company. Don’t you think it is risky for them?

The newbie investors should be asking themselves what is their risk appetite. This is where I usually tell people, please do not take the gambler’s approach. Please do not do it with your own money unless and until you know that you can take that risk for many people. Yes, startups are very risky. As I said, out of ten, they know five, six, seven of them will miserably fail but one has to take that risk. Higher the risk, higher the return, lower the risk, lower the return.

The investor has that mindset that it does not matter even if the company is burning cash – I will invest because when we take that company to the next stage, we know to a great extent that it is going to be valued at least three to four times the money that they have invested.

When a profit-making company merges with a loss making company will there be any benefit in the portfolio of investors of both the companies?

Sometimes it might be a strategy with regards to buying a competitor or it might be simply because they want to create more monopoly. For example, Ola, when they launched, there were many other players who were offering very similar services.

Two founders of two such companies, they were techies. I had met one of the founders so I was listening to their story and they said, we knew Ola was one of our competitors and then it is like – you are playing a cricket match against each other and you really hate them but all of a sudden in IPL you have to play next to them. You have to share the same dressing room, so even the same thing happens in the investment world. When our investors in Ola decided that let’s buy them out, they bought TaxiForSure.

Of course, even Taxi (TaxiForSure) was making a loss for 200 crores, the main reason behind the strategy was to make sure that they are capturing the market and they are kind of creating a monopoly. So, with that perspective, yes, it was definitely a success. Now that does not mean that we can apply the same strategy to every business or industry.

‘‘

The investor has that mindset that it does not matter even if the company is burning cash - I will invest because when we take that company to the next stage, we know to a great extent that it is going to be valued at least three to four times the money that they have invested.

The first customer is the key

For any startup, the difference begins to happen with the first customer. As the mentor opined, “The moment they have that first customer that is like the proof that someone is there to exchange money for the service or the product that they are offering. So, someone is seeing value and they are ready to give money and if more people are giving money because they see value in the problem that the startup is solving then yes you will have more people who will be buying it and if at all it is repetitive, it is going to be even more valuable.” This repetition can create all the difference as the company will now have the monopoly that investors would love to catalyse.

The post Why Investors Invest in a Loss-making Company? appeared first on Dutch Uncles.

What Should a Start-up Pitch Deck Include?

Anju Nambiar — Wed, 28 Jul 2021 05:35:08 +0000

A start-up pitch deck should be neither overly complicated nor too laid back. Creating a winning pitch deck is an art that you need to master with careful planning and execution.

What is a start-up pitch deck?

A start-up pitch deck is a document, specifically a collection of slides that explains concisely about the company overview, its vision and mission, team, problem statement, the solution you are offering to address the problem statement, market opportunity for your offerings, a bird’s eye view of what your product/service will look like, your target customers, sales, and marketing strategies. In simple words, a potential investor should get a snapshot of your business by viewing your pitch.

How is it the first step in your fundraising journey?

Every start-up that wants to raise capital needs to first work on creating an impactful pitch deck. Your deck is your start-up’s ‘why’ for acquiring funding. The more impressive your ‘why’ is, the better your chances are at raising investments. Although making a pin-point precise pitch deck is an art, it’s also the toughest to crack for early-stage start-ups. It’s also the first step to master before approaching the right investors.

Do’s and Don’ts for an Investor Pitch Deck

Most investors provide one opportunity for start-ups to present their pitches. Depending on the investors, your pitch must be sharpened to show precisely what they are looking for in an investee. Here are some dos and don’ts to keep in mind while making an investor pitch deck

Dos:

Highlight important slides

Investors are mostly interested in key slides like your financials, problem statement and team. Highlight these slides and keep them at the focus of your pitch deck.

Present your traction achieved

Investors are interested to see everything you’ve already achieved before raising funds. Present the progress you’ve made so far in your pitch deck, add your milestones and add growth numbers clearly for them to see.

Your pitch deck must tell a story

Your pitch deck must be created in a way that it tells a compelling story about your business. It shouldn’t just be a dump of facts and figures but a narrative of how your start-up adds value to the industry.

Don’ts

Mix your metrics

Investors want to see clear and concise numbers and metrics. They don’t want a confusing concoction of data. So don’t mix metrics into a single slide or a poor depiction because it may lower your credibility in the eyes of the investor. Segregate them according to revenue received, sales, traffic, ARR (annual recurring revenue) and so on.

Drag your pitch

Keep it short and precise. Show only the data which is most important for investors. Don’t include too many redundant slides and don’t add long text or too much creative copy.

Use too many Jargons or Acronyms

It may confuse the investor and not give much room to consider your pitch seriously. They usually don’t have much time to allocate for each pitch so use your time and their attention judiciously.

How to create an irresistible and compelling pitch deck

The key to creating an irresistible and compelling pitch deck is to restrict it to four important points:

The problem your start-up is solving
What exactly your product/service is
The market opportunity
Your business model

Why structuring your pitch is important

Structuring your pitch is important because it will capture the investor’s attention. A poorly structured or cluttered pitch can instantly put off an investor. With structuring, you keep all the key points of your start-up on the table so that investors are crystal clear on what’s in it for all the stakeholders.

What to cover and what to ignore

Here are some essential points to include and others to omit from your pitch deck

What to cover

Your company’s value proposition
Business roadmap

Marketing and Sales strategy

Competitor landscape

What to ignore

Excessive text and descriptions
Fund allocation

Estimations and guesswork

Forecasting and predictions not backed by credible statistics or data

‘‘

Depending on the investors, your pitch deck must be sharpened to show precisely what they are looking for in an investee.

What’s in it for me?

Before becoming a unicorn, your start-up has the single biggest milestone to cross, securing seed funding. Getting the first few rounds of funding are the most difficult part of raising investment for start-ups. Because this is when you need to prove that your company has the spark to grab investor interest. A pitch deck or deck slide is thus very important for early-stage start-ups.

A lot of start-up founders who have never made a pitch deck before may not know where to start. But it always pays to be simple and straightforward if you don’t have experience creating a pitch deck. Restrict it to a maximum of 10-11 slides. List out the features or characteristics of your product/service and don’t forget to include your go-to market strategy. Also, the pitch is only one half of the interaction. Investors usually have a lot of questions they need answers for before they are ready to invest in a start-up. Prepare for potential questions beforehand. With ample preparation and research on past successful start-up pitches, you will be ready to win over the toughest investor.

The post What Should a Start-up Pitch Deck Include? appeared first on Dutch Uncles.

Rural Entrepreneurship Incubation Programme

Vaishali Das — Tue, 27 Jul 2021 10:35:09 +0000

Every dream, passion or an innovative idea to start a business initially needs a little support and faith. Incubation programmes are designed to support early stage startups and business ideas. It provides startups, which are in their nascent stage, with mentoring and management. Along with this, these programmes also provide entrepreneurs an access to market resources, giving them networking opportunities and work on their business skill training.

What is Rural Entrepreneurship Incubation Programme?

Nadathur S. Raghavan Centre for Entrepreneurial Learning (NSRCEL), the innovation and entrepreneurship hub of the Indian Institute of Management (IIM) Bangalore in collaboration with Buddha Fellowship Program (BFP) launched an incubation programme, Rural entrepreneurship Incubation Programme. The idea behind this incubation programme is to enhance the entrepreneurship and startup ecosystem of rural India.

The programme aims to engage, enrich and foster young emerging entrepreneurial minds to help in the upliftment of rural India and real time gaps in supply chain management of corporates using an enterprise approach. This will help create a sustainable livelihood and will also create self-employment opportunities.

Who Does It Benefit?

The programme is for young graduates from leading universities who have a passion to work for the country’s upliftment. It is also for those who are wishing to work in the development sector, even if they’re from corporate backgrounds, or early stage entrepreneurs, all are welcome for this programme. The programme will be focusing on three sectors

Rural Livelihoods (Farm, non-farm, off-farm)
Health and Nutrition
Education

With the mission to back entrepreneurs to build ‘Atmanirbhar Bharat’, the programme will benefit the rural and home-grown entrepreneurs. It will transform the development sector by providing knowledge and awareness on scaling, branding, marketing and will support rural professionals to pursue their aspirations to become development entrepreneurs.

‘‘

The programme aims to engage, enrich and foster young emerging entrepreneurial minds to help in the upliftment of rural India.

Programme Highlights

Some of the major highlights of the Rural Entrepreneurship Incubation Programme are:

It will be having top-notch mentors from industry, government, academics and development sector to extend help to the young talents.
It will provide a wide rich ecosystem and networks of NSRCEL and BFP for strategic business technology based partnerships with leading universities like IITs and IIMs. Even the Ministry of Rural Development (MoRD), Rapid Rural Community Response to COVID-19 (RCRC), Tribal Co-operative Marketing Development Federation of India (TRIFED), and Principal Scientific Advisory will also be a part of the extended help.
It will also provide an opportunity to pitch for incubation. This includes 1 month of rural immersion followed by a 9-month incubation period, handholding support aided by quarterly entrepreneurship clinics and one-on-one mentoring.
It will also help in funding and 6 months post incubation support.

What Does it Aim to Achieve?

It aims to back rural entrepreneurs who aspire to build a successful business and in turn build a futuristic India which is inclusive for its less privileged and marginalised communities. The programme also wants to strengthen the business model. The outcomes of this programme will be:

Learning marketing for B2B, B2C, sourcing, grading and packaging
Stabilised and sustainable business with strong team and financial systems.
It will teach entrepreneurs how to pitch to investors and work with the government to avail subsidy.
It will also work on networking and communication skills.

Suggested Plan of Action For Aspiring Entrepreneurs

Startups or entrepreneurs who have a registered enterprise should apply for the programme. This is the best opportunity for those entrepreneurs working in solving the rural problems like agriculture, nutrition, livelihood enhancement, healthcare, education, etc. and who are operational for a minimum of 1 year. Entrepreneurs who have a clear understanding of micro and macro level business should submit their forms.

Applicants with a viable solution to the current problems and potential social or financial impact on rural communities will be shortlisted for the incubation programme.

The post Rural Entrepreneurship Incubation Programme appeared first on Dutch Uncles.

Meteor Venture, Fostering a Culture of Innovation for Start-ups

Aakash Sharma — Wed, 21 Jul 2021 12:30:09 +0000

Everyone needs support. Support is, in fact, one of the primal needs of all beings and entities that exist. From creeper plants that grow with the help of sticks and poles to human beings who have perfected their support systems over thousands of years for the ideal growth environment, a significant support push is needed for all sorts of existence. In this light, the modern drivers of business and entrepreneurship – start-ups – are no exception when it comes to needing support and aid – support for taking off from the ground to hitting markets with the aims of impacting people’s lives.

And providing this backbone of support is where the role of venture capital players becomes significant. Venture capital is the money invested in small businesses or those that exist as an initial stage start-up but have enormous potential to grow. The people who fund this money are known as venture capitalists. This story is about a new age venture capital firm, an accelerator and an angel network for modern era start-ups that is bringing new methods to the segment; this is the story of Meteor Venture.

About Meteor Venture

Meteor Venture is a seed fund and incubation firm focused on tech start-ups in India and South Asia. It empowers entrepreneurs through its range of accelerator programs such as Raise Capital, Idea to Product, Grow Your Business and Financial Coach.

But before delving into the functions of this venture firm and the significance of its programmes, let’s delve into the story behind its making. The highly young venture capital and start-up incubation firm found its start when Mr. Arpit Chundawat, Co-founder of Meteor Venture, along with his other two co-founders – Ms. Sonal Agarwal and Mr. Vipin Verma- began the journey to create an accelerator and investor network that works with disruptive start-ups across various sectors and geographies.

Mr. Chundawat has often described his professional journey as one that is relatively unusual and unconventional. He has been drawn towards purpose-driven projects that have exposed him to new and extensive experiences, and aided him in launching and scaling P&Ls of various business models. His stint includes running a joint venture in Bali, Indonesia called Dragoon Yachts. He sold the venture last year due to COVID induced challenges, and has since moved on to a marketplace model.

After this move of Mr. Chundawat, Meteor Venture found life with the help, entrepreneurial efforts, and expertise of co-founders Sonal Agarwal and Vipin Verma. Ms. Sonal has been around and working in the start-up community for over a decade now. She is a veteran finance official who has worked for Unicorns such as OYO and has a demonstrated background in financing unique business ideas and projects.

Mr. Vipin Verma, who is considered as one of the pioneers of affiliate marketing in India, has perfected the art to generate vetted and solid leads for businesses and is a key driving force at Meteor Venture. Since its incorporation, Meteor Venture has provided national and international start-ups access to better technology, talent, mentors, customers, corporations and investors.

Meteor Venture – Vision for an Innovative Start-up Space

While the start-up space in India has been on an upward trajectory for quite some time now, the country still has a higher rate of start-up failures than many other economically similar nations. A 2018 report by IBM Institute for Business Value and Oxford Economics found that 90 per cent of Indian start-ups crumble and fail within the first five years, primarily due to the lack of innovation and scalable models.

‘‘

Meteor Venture aims to change the failing nature of a majority of start-ups as it strives to empower an ecosystem hungry for innovation.

Regarding this issue, company founders have often outlined that while not all start-ups become Unicorns, mentors can set many of them on the path to earning decent profits, given that they are incubated and appropriately guided. Meteor Venture, as a venture firm, is set on enabling and empowering an ecosystem driven by budding entrepreneurs and start-ups which are hungry for innovation.

It aims to achieve these goals by driving start-ups to scale up faster and create business value. By elevating innovation for companies and transforming their business models for the profitable stakes, it provides growth hack marketing and business development services that keep the businesses leagues ahead of the competition.

Mentoring Purpose-Driven Start-ups by Meteor Venture

Meteor Venture was founded in 2020 and is based out of Gurugram, Haryana. The firm provides four programmes for start-ups who seek help and support in different areas of their business journey.

It is well known that a start-up has to cover an arduous journey and spend a considerable amount of time perfecting the basics and dotting all the I’s before reaching a somewhat stable mode. On similar lines, Meteor Venture conducted deep research using their own expertise in the field, and came up with programs that specifically suit the needs of developing and growing start-ups.

This is a look into Meteor Venture’s research-based programmes.

Raise Capital

The Rise Capital programme helps start-ups raise the money needed for their business most efficiently by dedicating a ‘seasoned team’ to the cause. The firm ensures everything – from pitch deck perfection, grooming, and being investor-ready for the journey, all nuances are paid heed to. The group includes industry experts who contact angel investors and venture capitalists for the specific needs of companies, be it debt equity, or venture debt fund, among others.

Grow Your Business

Meteor Venture’s growth and scaling programme – Grow Your Business – helps start-ups acquire new customers at a fraction of the cost. It also opens gates for start-ups to enter new markets, increase sales and revenues, reach new customers, and accelerate business growth. The firm offers affiliate marketing through its large network, digital growth hack, and B2B alliances- all at an affordable cost.

Idea to Product

Its ‘Idea to Product’ programme helps first-time entrepreneurs start their businesses and build their products efficiently. It also helps them in creating and improving pitch decks, business plans, and financial forecasts. The firm’s in-house team of coders, developers, and go-to-market experts ensure the best output at all stages.

Financial Coach

In the “Financial Coach” programme, Meteor Venture works closely with tech-based start-ups and companies to understand and formulate specific action plans. Accelerating growth is key to catching investors and entrepreneurs’ interest and taking the business to the next level. The company pledges to help manage cash flow, keep investors happy, and create a strong base of efficiencies in the operations and business processes.

These programs help start-ups at different stages – from creating an MVP to acquiring new customers to increasing overall revenue, giving them financial mentorship and actionable resources. Meteor Venture helps start-ups cover various aspects from developing business plans to financial advisory, administrative work, marketing, etc. Having an intensive network, the firm also helps revenue-generating start-ups find new partners and enables their growth to new highs.

Meteor Venture’s Growth Trajectory

Meteor Venture empowers start-ups to scale faster and create business value. The following numbers speak for themselves.

14 Start-ups Impacted
Rs. 11 crore Funding raised
21 Exclusive Tie-ups
19758 Vetted Leads Generated

Collaborating With Start-ups, how does Meteor Venture do it?

Meteor Venture nurtures innovation through the guidance of mentors and in-house growth hackers who are trusted industry leaders. The firm forms collaborations with various start-ups in a seemingly organic manner as each onboarding is ‘unique’ for the company’s portfolio, depending upon the customer needs and requirements.

The collaboration process, which is different for start-ups looking for help and investors looking to invest via the ‘Submit Your Pitch’ and ‘Invest with Us’ portals, respectively, is as easy as it gets.

The ‘Meteor Venture – Submit Your Pitch’ portal uses the simple Google Form for start-ups to sign up and make the initial pitch details for the firm to work on. The form asks basic details like the start-up name, website, person’s name and role, a brief about the start-up in less than 20 words, what problem they are solving, and how their solution is unique, among other questions. This process takes 10 minutes to finish, and then the founding members of Meteor Venture analyse it and arrange for an introductory call.

The entire process is seamless, rapid and easy to comply with for start-ups. The ‘Meteor Venture: Investor Form’ operates on a similar method and asks basic details from potential investors about their background and interest in collaborating with Meteor Venture.

‘‘

Meteor Venture helps start-ups become investor-ready and helps them get funded through their extensive network of angel investors/VCs.

At Meteor Venture, support programmes are set up for each start-up expressly. Since a majority of start-ups strive to raise capital, the firm helps start-ups with evaluation and product validation of their products in the market, examining customer base and looking into revenue generation processes. They add the start-up with promising reports to their Raise Capital programme. If the results are not conclusive to growth parameters, they move the start-up into the Grow Your Start-up programme, where they further mentor the start-up and give them free leads to monitor their growth.

As per its website, following are the working strategies and action plan of Meteor Venture for easing the lift-off of new ideas and start-ups from the ground.

Curated Playbooks: Meteor Venture assists businesses to accelerate their entrepreneurial journey with tailor-made playbooks.

Market Access: It provides a solid platform and growth hack services for entrepreneurs to increase turnover and attract investments.

Networking Opportunities: The vast network of Meteor Venture connects start-ups with distinguished industry leaders, investors, partners and service providers.

Idea-To-Product: The firm and its team help businesses and ideas in building a practical go-to business plan, validating the concept, building the MVP, and charting the path to scalability.

Meteor Venture’s Recent Undertakings and Support for Start-ups

In recent times, Meteor Venture has actively expanded its portfolio and horizon to impact the Indian start-up space. It has recently partnered with HSBC and the Women’s Indian Chamber of Commerce & Industry (WICCI) Council to empower women entrepreneurs. Meteor Venture has helped raise funds for various start-ups, including Classroom, Ezyschooling and various other new entrepreneurial projects.

Meteor Venture is also creating numerous unique and market-changing ideas such as an Uber-like service for ambulances, Cashback websites and many more such innovative plans for its portfolio start-ups to bank upon. It has helped its start-ups scale 10x in revenue through the growth hack services, which are a great value add for new businesses. They offer a 35% discount to all registered start-ups.

Future Plans

As the overall entrepreneurial graph seems to be going up in a seemingly post-COVID world, venture capital firms and incubators like Meteor Venture will have jam-packed business days shortly. As goes with an expanding business, Meteor Venture also has expansive plans for the firm’s future. The company is aiming to add fresh members to its business development and marketing teams. The trio- of co-founders need all the hands on-board for catering to the growing network of start-ups that seek their support.

As for the investors on its board, Meteor Venture is open to having new faces and industry experts, investors and mentors to guide the new businesses. According to information available in the public domain, Meteor Venture has had 25% foreign investors and 75% Indian investors connected to them.

The future of this online incubator, accelerator, and service provider for early-stage start-ups looks bright, and the firm is on a path of steady growth. With some of the best prospective start-ups in key segments already in its work portfolio, the company will have a busy future with progressive results and a distinctive impact on the start-up space of India.

For more inspiring stories like this, read our Inspire Section!

The post Meteor Venture, Fostering a Culture of Innovation for Start-ups appeared first on Dutch Uncles.

Family Offices Mushrooms as India Gives Birth to Billionaires Every Year

DU Desk — Fri, 09 Jul 2021 10:35:05 +0000

When the entrepreneurial goals of a mega rich family or a seasoned entrepreneur are done and dusted, they are left with ample time and resources to venture into new businesses. When we say ‘mega rich family’, picture the likes of Ambani, Tata, Birla, and other empires. Also picture well-known uber-rich celebrities, and NRI businessmen wanting to set foot in the Indian start-up and business ecosystem. To realise their vision of being on par with new-age businesses, family offices are set up to fund companies in sectors like technology, neo banking, etc.

What is a family office?

A family office is a personal investment office/vehicle which is operated by billionaires or mega HNIs (High Net-Worth Individuals). These individuals usually pump their personal fortunes into promising new companies that may be start-ups, VCs or PE funds that demonstrate growth capabilities. They in turn give rise to more billionaires through their high valued funding sprees. Family offices thrive in ecosystems with growing investment opportunities. They are traditional business families that play the role of a Venture Capitalist or Private Equity fund. But unlike VCs, family offices attach their portfolios to traditional assets like stocks, real estate, or gold. A family office utilises private wealth of business leaders, celebrities, NRIS, multi-generational entrepreneurs for investing in other businesses. They are wealth management services aimed at preserving and growing the money of the rich.

150+ family offices launched last decade

In just the past decade more than 150 family offices have sprung up. What’s interesting is that the very same start-ups that received family office investments have risen to the unicorn status in the past decade. This is testimony to India’s growing billionaire club.

Prominent family offices in India

A lot of celebrities also own family offices like Yuvraj Singh’s YouWeCan ventures. NRIs have family offices based out of India like Abhinav Jhunjhunwala’s AJ Capital in Singapore, Satveer Singh Thakral’s SGAN, Satpal Khattar’s Khattar Family Holdings, and S Ramakrishnan’s Transworld Group Family Office based in UAE. Among family offices with mature portfolios in India, noteworthy are Mohandas Pai’s Aarin Inspired Capital, Salisbury Investments by Aditya Puri, Former MD and CEO of HDFC Bank, Ratan Tata’s RNT Associates, NR Narayana Murthy’s Catamaran Ventures, Burman Family Holdings, Harsh Mariwala’s Sharrp Ventures, PremjiInvest by Wipro’s Azim Premji, Damani Group’s Artha India Ventures, Rana Kapoor’s The Three Sisters (run by Kapoor’s three daughters – Radha, Raakhe and Roshini), Ronnie Screwvala’s Unilazer Ventures, and Pratithi Family Office by Kris Gopalakrishna, co-founder of Infosys.

Associating with marquee brands

The prominent family offices have been quick to associate themselves with marquee brands the likes of which include Flipkart, Snapdeal, OYO Rooms, Ola, and Udemy. All these brands are technology companies which goes to show that Family Offices are swiftly progressing in the technology direction. The Three Sisters Family Office had associated with the brand ‘Businessworld’ back in 2014 including all its marquee events and conferences.

‘‘

A family office is a personal investment office/vehicle which is operated by billionaires or mega HNIs (High Net-Worth Individuals).

What’s in it for me?

For ultra-high net worth individuals (UHNIs), venture capital has emerged as a means of generating superior financial returns. The fact that the returns keep coming even during a pandemic or a similar crisis has been revelatory for family offices in India. Currently, the VC and PE asset makes up for 20% of their portfolio allocation while contributing to 30% of their portfolio returns.

Technology investments have emerged as a profitable investment for wealthy families. However, they find it difficult to gain exposure to these high growth portfolios. As such, family offices rely on professional Venture Capitalists to get the opportunity.

As new billionaires are emerging with each passing year, the number of Family Offices that cater to them is also growing rapidly. The total wealth held by Indian HNIs is growing and is set to touch $700 B in the year 2024.

The post Family Offices Mushrooms as India Gives Birth to Billionaires Every Year appeared first on Dutch Uncles.

Digit- India’s Third Most Valuable Fintech

Vaishali Das — Tue, 06 Jul 2021 10:31:58 +0000

Digit insurance, a Bengaluru-based general insurance company is simplifying the way insurance products are viewed, purchased and claimed. It mainly offers health, car, bike and travel insurances with a pretty transparent and basic understanding of insurance policies.

Recent Fundraising and Current Valuation

In an initial funding round in January 2021, the Fairfax-backed startup raised $18 million making it valued at $1.9 billion. After this round of funding, the startup became the first one to enter the Unicorn club in 2021. The company had raised $18.5 billion from its existing investors Faering, A91 Partners and TVS in January.

In its latest round of funding from existing investors Faering Capital as well as some new investors Sequoia Capital India and IIFL Alternate Asset Managers, the startup is raising $200 million. After this funding round, the company’s valuation will be doubled to $3.5 billion.

One of the biggest funding rounds in the Indian insurance sector, this funding round will take Digit’s total capital infusion to $442 million since its inception in October 2017. With this current valuation, Digit is India’s third most valuable Fintech startup leaving behind the big names like Razorpay and Pine Labs which were valued at $3 billion each earlier this year.

Why is Digit Raising Funds?

The major reason behind raising funds is to maintain solvency with an equity dilution of 5% in the recent fundraise. They will continue with their major focus being on simplifying insurance processes and increasing insurance penetration with the help of technology.

The major source of revenue is Digit’s Motor Insurance category. It brings around 75% of gross premiums. In the pandemic, the share of travel insurance fell but at the same time health insurance started rising up.

With this fundraising, it will incorporate newer health covering services in the account of a potential third wave of COVID-19 in India. The company is also planning to increase its Indian geography, expanding to tier II and tier III cities.

‘‘

One of the biggest funding rounds in the Indian insurance sector, this funding round will take Digit’s total capital infusion to $442 million since its inception in October 2017.

What made Digit a Successful Insurance Tech Startup?

The startup provides customers with pretty basic and transparent insurance solutions. Some of Digit’s relevant products are:

SME buddy, a consultant tool, helps users to pick the best insurance coverage for their businesses.
Home Loan Calculator is a tool that enables users to calculate their EMIs for their home loans in a feasible manner.
Insurance Dictionary is a one-of-its-kind tool that focuses on simplifying the complicated insurance related terms for general public.

In the pandemic, it has also come up with COVID-19 Symptoms Checker easing up the checking of risks or symptoms of corona. All these simple processes, a tech-enabled and customer centric approach make this company stand out in the market.

Takeaways For Insurance Startups

As awareness regarding the insurance industry grows, the market for startups like these will prove lucrative. The pandemic has drawn people’s attention towards having health insurances and this is where Digit aces the game.

Digit is using technology based products to simplify the insurance processes for its customers. It has smartphone-enabled self-inspection and audio claims, fully cloud-based platform and is constantly launching relevant offerings for its customers.

The post Digit- India’s Third Most Valuable Fintech appeared first on Dutch Uncles.

How Investors Read Your Financial Statements, And Why Should You Master Them for Successful Fundraising?

Chayanika Sen — Fri, 02 Jul 2021 14:16:20 +0000

Starting up a business is not easy. And with limited resources and budget, you need to wear several hats throughout the day. You need to manage the day-to-day operations, admin tasks, marketing your products, manage sales, and keep a tab on your finances. As a new business owner, you might not be familiar with keeping accounts of your financial statements. While hiring a professional accountant is always a great idea, it is not so difficult to do it on your own in the initial days. No matter what, remember that you need to keep your accounts clean. The key is to keep accounts of every transaction you made, not just for you to know how your business is performing, but in the long run, if you need to raise funds for the growth of your business, that’s what the investors are going to look at. So, make it a habit of keeping track of your financial records from Day 1. Maintaining proper financial records also ensures that you are compliant with statutory compliance. It enables you to create budgets, financial projections, and better investment decisions.

‘‘

The key is to keep accounts of every transaction you made, not just for you to know how your business is performing, but in the long run, if you need to raise funds for the growth of your business, that’s what the investors are going to look at.

How to master creating financial statements that investors will love:

Start with a business bank account:

No matter how small your business is, always maintain a separate financial record for your business and don’t mix it with your accounts. Establishing a business bank account is a good idea that allows you to keep track of all your business transactions. So, if you’re setting up a business, have a separate bank account for your business as a rule of thumb.

Avoid cash transactions:

Cash transactions may seem to be convenient, especially for small amounts like a food bill or a travel expense for business, but it makes it challenging to keep a tab on the financial transactions of your business. When you deal with cash, you tend to forget the transaction and thus miss out on entering it in your logbook later. Instead, it is recommended to use business credit or debit cards to do any financial transaction. This way, you will have a record trail, and everything will go into your audit book. When you use cash, you could also potentially miss out on taking advantage of write-offs since there won’t be any documentation of the transaction. If there is no other way to deal with a particular transaction other than using cash, use an ATM card to withdraw money, and make a note on the receipt with the purpose of the withdrawal. That way, you will always have a record, and you can put it up in your record book. Needless to say, your future investors will love it when they see how meticulously you have recorded all the data from day 1.

Invest in good accounting software:

At the beginning of your business, you might be sceptical about making investments, but investing in good accounting software is something you would like to ponder. Accounting software can help you access your accounting information anywhere if you have an internet connection. This makes it easier to access your files if you are hiring an accountant. Additionally, accounting software comes with cloud storage, so you don’t need to maintain physical files and tons of paper. An online program will continually back up your files on the cloud as you progress. However, it is recommended that you still maintain a hard copy of all the files, just in case there is an emergency.

Have a schedule:

Managing an account is a time taking task. And you need to be regular and consistent to have your financial statements clean. Thus, it makes a lot of sense to maintain a schedule or a routine to manage your books. For example, the first hour of the morning can be an excellent time to update your accounts when your mind is fresh. Having a schedule makes it easier for you to be consistent and stay on top of things. Your future investors will acknowledge and admire this habit because they know that the amount you are fundraising would have clear spending records. Letting your expenses pile up can become challenging when you have to do year-end tax planning. Also, keep a tab on important deadlines like VAT, insurance premium payment, corporation tax, etc., because late payment can attract heavy penalties, something your future investors wouldn’t like to see on your financial statements. When you keep accounts up-to-date, you will know what you owe and what you need to pay. So, it would be easier to keep track of all your dues.

Leverage the power of data:

Keeping a tab on all your financial records is not just to impress your investors or understand your revenue. An up-to-date financial statement can give you a lot of useful insights if you’re paying close attention to it. The real advantage of maintaining an account record is much more than that. It can give you real insights into how much revenue you are making and how much you are losing, and where your business is going. Accordingly, it can help you tweak your model. And your investors will definitely acknowledge it when they invest in your company.

Training helps:

If you are a first-time business owner, training will help master your financial statement. In your early days, it is worth investing in training so that you can make the most of your accounting software. While most people think that the software can do everything, well, you need the knowledge to operate it to reap maximum benefits.

Ask for help:

Accounting and maintaining books is no easy job. It is not uncommon to feel overwhelmed, especially when you are managing the entire business operations on your own. Reaching out for help from professionals at early stages will always save you from later troubles.

‘‘

It is essential that you keep your financial statements clean and up-to-date from the first day of your business.

Being at par with your tax obligations:

One thing that your future investors would like to see in your financial statement is your tax obligations. This is no brainer that you need to be clear on your debts if you have future plans to fundraise. No one would like to spend money on a business that has bad credits. So be sure to meet all your tax obligations and file your tax returns regularly. Avoid paying penalties for late payment fees. Keep records of all the tax returns. If you have employees on your payroll, you will need to enroll for payroll tax and remit on a monthly basis. If you are dealing in vatable goods, then ensure to fill your value added tax (VAT) returns too. Having reliable accounting software can be a valuable asset, so consider investing in one. It can help you to streamline and automate the business process.

Reconciling your bank statement:

Matching information on your bank account to the transaction history is one of the most crucial parts of maintaining account records and bookkeeping. Automating the process can fully prove that all income and expenditures are accounted for. For example, accounting software can pull your bank statement and tally it against each of the spending. You can see what has been added and whatnot, so you can amend manually. Making it a practice from your early days will definitely help you to maintain a clear account. And when you reach out to investors for fundraising in the future, this will certainly help you win some brownie points.

Don’t miss out on the invoices:

Late payments can affect your cash flows. You need to spend extra time following up on the payment. So, it is critical that you keep constant vigilance on the invoices and follow up if there is a default. It is also a good idea to add a default fee in case of late payments. You can also take advice from your accountant on how to implement these. Having a late fee attached will ensure you stay on top of payment collection against your invoices.

Apart from keeping your financial records up-to-date, your investors may also want to see some documents to verify. Certain documents that you should maintain a record of include:

Invoices and receipts that you provide and receive for your business and service
Invoices for goods, services, or other business purchases for your business
Bank account and credit card statements
Records of stock purchases at the end of the financial year and asset register
Filing of business tax returns proof
All financial statements related to your business. These may include profit and loss statements, and balance sheets
Records of payments made to employees plus payroll source deductions submitted on behalf of employees

What will investors look into?

Apart from maintaining a detailed record of all your transactions, there are some parameters that investors will check before considering you for giving funds. So, keep a tab on the following while growing your business:

Net profit: Net profit is an important parameter to determine the financial health of a company. Investors pay a lot of attention to this. So, ensure you have a stable profit. Losses can be good if you’re on track to profitability as you grow. Ensure to have a good understanding and vision about our net profit.
Sales: No matter how attractive your business model, the one thing your investor will pay attention to is how much sales you have. So, focus on setting up an exemplary sales record before approaching an investor. Remember, investors also like to see sales growth. Are you showing an upward trend, or the initial excitement is going to fizzle out soon? Clear your grounds before making a pitch.
Cash flow is the king: A sign of sustainable operation is free cash flow or the amount of money left in your account after you meet all the overheads. Investors like to see if you have steady cash flow so that you can invest in new opportunities or fight any unannounced problems.
Break event point: Short-term losses are often acceptable by investors, but they would like to see that they can earn a profit by investing in your company. The break-even point would help them understand that. A break-even point can be a sales target that can help you pay all the overheads and make some profit. A break-even point can also be built on other assumptions like increased production, optimised marketing, economies of scale, etc.

While many other factors that an investor may consider, a strong financial statement will help you earn some extra points. Even if you are not considering approaching an investor at the moment, you may want to reconsider it in the long run when you want to grow your business. So, it is essential that you keep your financial statements clean and up-to-date from the first day of your business.

Expert Connect

Chinmay Ananda
Business Storyteller, Financial Educator Finance Academy
Connect with our expert to analyse your financial statements and evaluate the risks and potential of your business

The post How Investors Read Your Financial Statements, And Why Should You Master Them for Successful Fundraising? appeared first on Dutch Uncles.

It’s not the Lion, it’s Tiger Global King of the Jungle

Anju Nambiar — Thu, 01 Jul 2021 10:30:28 +0000

Tiger Global’s aggression in Indian Start-ups is keeping the fat pay checks coming, but the impact of this aggression is yet to be gauged in the long run. The Indian Start-up Ecosystem is abuzz with talks about Tiger Global. They have been showing their bullishness in India and are set to play a pivotal role in the next generation of Indian start-ups.

The No. 1 Investor in Start-ups this year

Tiger Global is currently the top investor in Indian start-ups, especially in unicorn start-ups. It has ousted ‘Sequoia Capital’ from its position to assume the title of being the top investor in 2021. This year, they have already participated in 15 start-up funding deals. Among these deals, 9 of them were unicorn start-ups funded by Tiger in the first half of this year. The Unicorn league in the Indian start-up ecosystem has about 52 start-ups, out of 25 have received funding from Tiger making it a 50% shareholder in the unicorn club.

Start-ups funded by Tiger Global since 2020

Freshly funded by Tiger this year are GoMechanic (car services platform), ClassPlus (a B2B ed-tech start-up headquartered in Noida), and Kutumb, a Community Platform and Social Networking App. Not too long ago Plum (health insurance start-up) also bagged investment led by Tiger Global. Tiger Global’s portfolio mainly comprises Unicorns and Soonicorns (soon to be unicorns) in India. Other start-ups which received funding this year by Tiger Global include:

Innovaccer (health tech)
Infra.Market (real estate tech)
Groww (fintech)
ShareChat (regional language social media)
ChargeBee (enterprise SaaS)
Zomato (food tech)
Urban Company (online marketplace)
Gupshup (messaging services)
Moglix (B2B commerce)
CRED (fintech)
Koo (social networking)
ProgCap (fintech) and
Apna (professional networking)

In the year 2020, Tiger has invested in 13 Indian start-ups.

‘‘

Tiger Global is currently the top investor in Indian start-ups, especially in unicorn start-ups.

What’s in it for me?

It’s a fact that Tiger Global is interested mainly in later stage start-ups and in post Initial Public Offering (IPO) deals. Although the investment rounds and the valuations look fabulous on paper, the truth is that Tiger makes ‘structured investments with exclusive rights for downside protection’. It may seem on the surface that Tiger is placing bets instead of making strategic investments. But if truth be told, they are making informed choices and choosing deals with ‘momentum in diverse sectors’ which have ‘volume scale’.

In the recent past, Tiger has maintained diversity in the sectors which start-ups belong to and the stage they are in while investing. As a case study, if we look at the sectors which Tiger Global has invested in since the pandemic began (ed-tech, job tech and fintech), these are the industries which have been successful during the pandemic. These are the most promising industries which will receive future investments from Tiger. D2C companies with pan India presence and global market opportunities have a high chance of gaining Tiger Global’s interest.

The post It’s not the Lion, it’s Tiger Global King of the Jungle appeared first on Dutch Uncles.

New Startup Ideas to Be Funded by Maruti Suzuki Mobility Challenge For 2021

Vaishali Das — Wed, 23 Jun 2021 08:30:03 +0000

What is this challenge?

Maruti Suzuki India Limited launched the Mobility Challenge in partnership with Hyderabad-based business incubator T-Hub. The challenge is launched in order to explore the new-age technologies and help growth-stage startups to scale up their business. The sole purpose of the programme is to drive innovation for business efficiencies.

Why is Maruti Suzuki Doing the challenge?

With the launch of Mobility Challenge, the firm is looking forward to working with mature Indian and overseas startups, to expand and upgrade their business operations. The challenge provides the selected startups with an opportunity to execute a paid proof of concept, mentorship, and opportunity to become a business partner with Maruti Suzuki. Through this initiative, the automaker is eager to partner with startups, including players who are already established with an existing customer base and have a ready solution.

Which sector or industry is it eyeing upon?

Mature startups from series A to unicorn startups, across the globe with innovative ideas and solutions in the mobility space can apply for this challenge. The challenge is basically for the technology-based startups with area focus on AI, AR/VR, Autonomous Mobility, Automotive Remote Diagnostic, Automotive Serving Efficiency, Big Data Analytics, Electrification, Internet-of-things, Mobility-as-a-service, and Smart Infrastructure.

‘‘

The challenge provides the selected startups with an opportunity to execute a paid proof of concept, mentorship, and opportunity to become a business partner with Maruti Suzuki.

How will this challenge help the Startups?

The selected startups will receive support and mentoring from experts at Maruti Suzuki and T-Hub. It will also help the startups:

By providing them with a Paid PoC Opportunity to execute and develop innovative business solutions under any focus area.
The finalists of this challenge will be awarded with a PoC grant of Rs 10 Lakh.
By giving them an opportunity to collaborate with Maruti Suzuki and get the largest testbed on cutting-edge solutions which can be applied at a large scale.
To get a fast-paced learning experience alongside a proper mentorship and guidance from leading experts of Maruti Suzuki and T-Hub for scaling up of the startups.

Eligibility Criteria for Startups to Apply

The challenge is for applicants or teams who are capable of demonstrating potential conceptualization and execution of a quick PoC for the suggested focus areas. Only those growth-scale startups can apply who fulfill all the eligibility criteria:

Each startup team must have one full time employee. A ‘Full Time Employee’ by definition means someone who maintains standard business hours working on technology or ventures (at a minimum, Monday to Friday, 9:00 am-5:00 pm).
The product or technology the startup is offering for consideration provides a functionality or capability not currently available in any off the shelf product, or a functionality/capability demonstrated to possess a significant advantage over current offerings in some aspect.
The product or technology the startup is offering for consideration represents original ideas wholly owned with freedom to use or is licensed by the team.

Startups fulfilling all these criteria can apply for this challenge and win an exciting opportunity to club their startup with the big names and scale up their ventures alongside some free guidance straight from the experts itself. The deadline to apply for this challenge is till 12th July, 2021.

The post New Startup Ideas to Be Funded by Maruti Suzuki Mobility Challenge For 2021 appeared first on Dutch Uncles.